FAQs for Making and Canning (or freezing) Homemade Spaghetti Sauce from Fresh Tomatoes!
Making and canning your own spaghetti sauce is something families remember years later. No store bought spaghetti sauce compares with the taste of that made from your own tomatoes from your garden or fresh-picked from a local farm! In the middle of the winter, you can make a meal with your spaghetti sauce and taste the summer flavor of fresh tomatoes.
- Q. Can you mix the type of tomatoes you have for the sauce? I
have several Roma type and also Big Boys. I don't want to use all of my
Roma's on just one type of sauce so I wondered if I could mix the two types
since I have a TON of regular tomatoes?
A. Yes, there's no problem mixing types of tomatoes. Of course, the Roma or "paste-type" tomatoes have thicker walls with less water, so they don't need to be cooked down as much to make a thick sauce, but other than that, there's no problem. Use whatever type of tomatoes you have!
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Home Canning KitsThis is the same type of standard canner that my grandmother
used to make everything from applesauce to jams and jellies to tomato and
spaghetti sauce!. This complete kit includes everything you need and
lasts for years: the canner, jar rack, jar grabber tongs,
lid lifting wand, a plastic funnel,
labels, bubble freer, and the bible of canning, the Ball Blue Book. It's
much cheaper than buying the items separately. You'll never need anything else except jars & lids! To see more canners, of different styles, makes and prices, click here!For more information
and current pricing: |
Summary - Cost of Making Homemade Spaghetti Sauce - makes 7 pint jars, 16 oz each* |
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| Item | Quantity | Cost in 2005 | Source | Subtotal |
| Tomatoes | 20 - 25 lbs (to make about 16 cups of prepared tomato) | free from the garden, or $0.50 cents at a PYO | Garden | $0.00 |
| Canning jars (pint size, wide mouth), includes lids and rings | 7 jars | $8.00/dozen | Wal-Mart, BigLots, Publix, Kroger |
$4.50 |
| seasoning | See step 7 | $2.00? | Wal-Mart, Publix, Kroger |
$2.00 |
| Spaghetti mix | 1 packet | $3.00 per package | Wal-Mart, BigLots, Publix, Kroger |
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| Total | $6.50 total or about $0.95 per jar INCLUDING the jars - which you can reuse! |
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* - This assumes you already have the pots, pans, ladles, and reusable equipment. Note that you can reuse the jars! Many products are sold in jars that will take the lids and rings for canning. For example, Classico Spaghetti sauce is in quart sized jars that work with Ball and Kerr lids and rings. Note that the Classico's manufacturer does not recommend reuse of their jars: see what they have to say on this page: |
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Answers to Common Questions
What did I do wrong if my jars spoil?
Tomatoes are a low acid fruit - adding lemon juice helps, processing at least 35 minutes in the water bath canner, or better still, using a pressure canner almost eliminates spoilage. If you don't have a pressure canner, you must boost the acid level of the sauce, by adding 2 tablespoons of lemon juice or 1/2 teaspoon of citric acid per quart of sauce.
The question everyone asks: Can you add meat?
With a water bath canner, absolutely, definitely NOT. The temperatures do not get high enough to kill the type of bacteria that can attack meat and make you sick, or even kill you. However, with a pressure canner, it IS possible. I have complete directions here! I don't do it, simply because... have you ever tasted canned meat? Yes, it is called SPAM. My recommendation is to can without the meat and add fresh browned ground meat or meatballs when you use the sauce!
I have read in other homemade spaghetti sauce recipes that you need to cook the mixture for at least 4-5 hours. Is this necessary?
I suppose if you really want to make sure that absolutely no vitamins survive, you could cook it that long! :) The only reason people used to tomato sauce that long was the Roma paste-type tomatoes, with thicker walls, meatier with fewer seeds and less water didn't exist, so they had to cook it for hours to get rid of water and thicken it. And of course, modern sauce mixes that contain a little bit of corn starch as a thickener, also help shorten the time.
How can I make my sauce thicker?
The key is using
tomatoes that have less water – Roma types are best. Big Boy’s and Beefstakes
are very watery. Beyond that, Clear-gel starch is approved as a thickener for
home canning and works better than corn starch. Another tip is not overcooking!
And for those who want to go strictly organic and au naturale, my method of
squeezing out the excess water and seeds eliminates much of the excess juice
(which you can save as tomato juice for drinking) and lets you start with a
thicker tomato pulp which means much shorter cooking time!
(called "corn flour" in the UK)
